Phew!

Well, Clint still wears Underwear. And I do believe he is initiating when he needs to use the toilet! He is very quiet about it, and you will miss it if you are not paying attention, but he definitely is trying to tell you when he needs to use the toilet. I am a little dismayed at the moment that he can tell when he needs to Pee in the toilet, but I don't think he has quite gotten the hang of ... well, Pooping in the toilet. This I can tell you, cleaning a dirty diaper is a lot more enjoyable then cleaning out dirty Underwear, my......... goodness, a LOT easier. So I'm still pushing through with that. And I would like to take this very moment to congratulate myself with a comforting pat on that back that I have not reverted back to diapers. Yes, yes, thank you very much(Although yesterday, we did have to wear a Diaper to Therapies for Speech and O.T., as ALL of his underwear was dirty and I had not the option of letting him run Nude at the Elk's. Darn. But we put the underwear back one once we were home!).


But I digress, I really wanted to talk about his day at school, on Wednesday. Monday was a Holiday, the day he learned what mysteries the Toilet held (I'll quickly divert from that analogy, that sounds like it can only lead to a most foul sort of humor), and Tuesday I kept him home from School so I could cement this idea of visiting the Toilet on a regular schedule into his yielding mind.


And So! Wednesday I accompanied him to school, and sort of tagged along behind his teachers as they worked with Clint.
My first visit was to Occupational Therapy, where they work with his different senses to channel into useful skills that will help him cope in the mainstream classroom. I was very amazed at how still he sat, and how well he listened! Even in my Presence! I should provide a little explanation here: Usually Clint will act differently when I'm in the room. I think most children act differently when there parents are present in their Classroom, or so I've heard. And it was in this session that Clint made the Eiffel Tower, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Big Ben Clock. I could not believe it!! All of his teachers were quite impressed with his drawing capabilities, Vain Mother that I am, I can't help but brag about that(And if you would like to see pictures of these drawings, I have them up on Facebook, in my album titled "Clint", or e-mail me and I shall send you the picture! It's phenomenal how recognizable they are!).


But He continued to sit nicely throughout most of the day, only getting up to dance excitedly around the room, only to be caught by a teacher and asked to nicely "Walk" around the room, not run. And I must admit I saw a few instances where he would have gladly Bolted- usually while waiting in line, or traveling through the hallways to go from one room to another. But this was quickly quelled by the teacher who was nearest him, so I can definitely breath easier that he is being carefully watched.


What nearly made me cry, though, was when he went to the playground! They just let him, go, and sat at the sidelines and watched. He pushed no one, he didn't try to run out in to the parking lot (Which is very easily accessible from the playground). He also came directly when they called him to go inside! Waiting in line is still proving to be a bit of a stretch for him, though. I must find ways to boost his attention span at home, and find what is at the root of this need to flee whenever he is placed in a situation in which he must sit and wait for the next task. Transitions have always been a little hard to grasp, and while a lot of the time, I can easily distract him from one activity to the next, teaching him how to sit and wait for something to happen while doing absolutely nothing but sitting and standing is an entirely different matter.


The next topic is what I learned from his teacher. I would like to insert here how much I adore his teacher, Mrs. Marilee Haines (Whom I am sure I have not spelled correctly. Oops. Maybe next time, I'll pay attention). She is very firm with him, and you can tell she is very knowledgeable, simply because she understands a lot of what he is saying, because she has heard speech like this from a lot of different children. She related to me that half of the children in the classroom with Clint (Of which there are about 8... or 9, I believe?) were Autistic as well. I find it fascinating to see other children that are like Clint. All the rest of them are a lot more verbal than Clint, and that is what Mrs. Haines said she really would like to see improved with Clint: giving him more words.


Mrs. Haines is also giving me a lot of "homework" for Clint to do, and I'm very excited about this, because I want to continue to lengthen his attention span at home, and help him understand he needs to do what an adult asks him to do, be it at home, in school, or at another person's house. I think this is one area we really need to work on, because I'm pretty sure that Clint has decided wherever he goes, he runs the show. And if he is to be "mainstreamed" in a regular classroom (At the moment, he is only in a "Resource Room", with other children with special needs), he will have to mind the teacher, and let her give him instructions that he must execute.


Also! I have a "task" strip that Mrs. Haines gave me, which is a velcro strip with a little pouch on the end labeled "All Done". We will then attach little pictures of all of his tasks on it, along with a reward at the end, should he follow through. She also reminded me that I should not take too long with the tasks, every 10 minutes he should be rewarded for listening and paying attention. So, writing numbers, identifying shapes, and other schoolwork can be rewarded with a toy, or playing with legos, or drawing, or some outside time on the swing (or most likely, digging in the dirt...). Another thing she related to me is a lot of Autistic children like Slinky toys? Many will hold it up to their ears and listen to the noise at is pulled open and closed. She's convinced that a lot of them have finally attuned hearing: So this noise is very fascinating to them- Even though most of us probably have never really been able to hear this.


In closing: I am simply so excited to see that Clint has adjusted well to his environment in school, and he enjoys his time there. It is also important for me to see that he is safe and well looked after, and they really do care for his well being there. Each of them were so excited to see that he really did piddle in the toilet! They will be taking him to visit the bathroom every half an hour now, and this I know they will be consistent in.
Yesterday was his first day at school, using the toilet without Mom there to prompt him, and he only had one accident! And since yesterday morning, let it be known that he has had no ... Piddling accidents (hurrah!) But I still need to catch him before he releases, well. The other form of Waste in his underwear. It's usually in the evening that I've noticed this, right before dinner. I am trying not to be too frustrated when this happens though-- The accidents, I mean- because in my communicating, I want him to know this is a natural thing, it's perfectly fine, but it needs to end up, eventually, in the toilet.


So I must be patient and clean up a few more messes, and hope it will catch on. I know it will! I'm debating how best to communicate this to him...


So! Off to another bright, cheery day, filled with opportunities, changes to be made, and new ideas to be learned.